HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — At least six people died and 24 were wounded in a shooting at a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, and officers are searching for a suspect who likely fired on the festivities from a rooftop, police said Monday.
Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill, the incident commander on scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect, described as a white male wearing a white or blue T-shirt.
Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesman Christopher Covelli said at a news conference that the gunman apparently opened fire on parade-goers from a rooftop using a rifle that was recovered at the scene. He didn’t know which building.
Covelli said police believe there was only one shooter and warned that he should still be considered armed and dangerous.
Police have not released any details about the victims or wounded.
The parade began around 10 a.m. but it was suddenly halted about 10 minutes later after shots were fired. Hundreds of parade-goers — some visibly bloodied — fled the parade route, leaving behind chairs, baby strollers, plush toys, bicycles and blankets.
Police told people: “Everybody disperse, please. It is not safe to be here.”
Highland Park Police said in a statement early Monday afternoon that five people had been killed and 19 people were taken to hospitals. but those numbers were revised soon after at the news conference.
Video shot by a Sun-Times journalist after the gunfire rang out shows a band on a float continuing to play as people run past, screaming.
Gina Troiani and her son were lined up with his daycare class ready to walk onto the parade route when she heard a loud sound that she believed was fireworks — until she heard people yell about a shooter.
“We just start running in the opposite direction,” she told The Associated Press.
Her 5-year-old son was riding his bike decorated with red and blue curled ribbons. He and other children in the group held small American flags. The city said on it’s website that the festivities were to include a children’s bike and pet parade.
Troiani said she pushed her son’s bike, running through the neighborhood to get back to their car.
In a video that Troiani shot on her phone, some of the kids are visibly startled at the loud noise and they scramble to the side of the road as a siren wails nearby.
It was just sort of chaos,” she said. “There were people that got separated from their families, looking for them. Others just dropped their wagons, grabbed their kids and started running.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a tweet that he is “closely monitoring the situation in Highland Park” and that Illinois State Police are assisting.
Debbie Glickman, a Highland Park resident, said she was on a parade float with coworkers and the group was preparing to turn onto the main route when she saw people running from the area.
“People started saying: ‘There’s a shooter, there’s a shooter, there’s a shooter,’” Glickman told the Associated Press. “So we just ran. We just ran. It’s like mass chaos down there.”
She didn’t hear any noises or see anyone who appeared to be injured.
“I’m so freaked out,” she said. “It’s just so sad.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-respond-july-4-parade-161820151.html
‘She didn’t hear any noises or see anyone who appeared to be injured.’ hmmm
Sounds suspect to me as if there is some sort of surreptitious government operation going on in a further effort to ensure gun control
Doesn’t even raise my eyebrows. What is 6 six dead? You try touching our f-king guns and the death toll will go into the millions. There will be rivers of blood. So if the f-king parasites want to give ‘er a go, they can quit playing Parcheesi and go for the Russian Roulette, and the sooner the better.
And so what’s left of our country’s day of celebrating our supposed freedom has now been destroyed by false flag gun toting communists.
Happy “Dependence” Day, everyone!
This isn’t our Independence Day, this is their Hijacking Day.
They can wave all the f-king flags they want, but when the sun goes down and the directives, memorandums, and dictates telling us we cannot have real fireworks kicks in they will bear witness to our defiance.
Why aren’t you broadcasting today?
I’m didn’t broadcast yesterday because I didn’t f-king want to.
Here’s another little aspect about the 4th of July you don’t know about. People get days off.
My son drove 200 miles to spend the time with me and we didn’t spend it celebrating the 4th of July.
You see, you have no authority on this site, you’re not my f-king boss. What you are is off this site, buddy, and don’t come back.
Awake, why aren’t you?
BAM!!
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I realize that and I completely agree with you. I was being sarcastic. Sorry. The comment was geared more towards waking up the sheeple out there.
By the way, I like your term, “Hijacking Day”. It’s definitely the correct way of putting it. The bastards all need to hang.
What a shift all the sudden in celebration plans!!! DO YOU SUPPORT THIS KIND OF BS FREEDOM!??? TRUE AMERICAN NATIONALS DO NOT!! FCK THEIR SYSTEM!! Save your asses for the real CELEBRATION!!!
Amazing that Walt Disney Died Dec 15th 1966!! I know,, because it was the day my wife was born!! NO SH*T!!! Bill of Rights Dec. 15th 1791 easy for me to remember LOL
I just saw a pic of the ‘person of interest’ lmao it looks like CGI
I was thinking the same thing! Very “adam lanza” a la sandy hoax like.
You know I have not fckg a firework dont care give me missle so i can shoot a chem cargo carrier down!! THAT WOULD MAKE ME DANCE LIKE THEM HOOKNOSE MTHRFCKRSS! ! LETS DO SI DO MTHFCKRS To the Tune of ???? Not sure tonite …. sleep and wake exhausted angry fckg pissed off! STAY POSITIVE!!!!
Maybe a foodbank has some sparklers available if you still wish to celebrate and cant afford it!!!
🙂
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